Very few of us know anything about conviction of sin. We know the experience of being disturbed because we have done wrong things. But conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit blots out every relationship on earth and makes us aware of only one— “Against You, You only, have I sinned…” (Psalm 51:4). When a person is convicted of sin in this way, he knows with every bit of his conscience that God would not dare to forgive him. If God did forgive him, then this person would have a stronger sense of justice than God. God does forgive, but it cost the breaking of His heart with grief in the death of Christ to enable Him to do so.

The great miracle of the grace of God is that He forgives sin, and it is the death of Jesus Christ alone that enables the divine nature to forgive and to remain true to itself in doing so. It is shallow nonsense to say that God forgives us because He is love. Once we have been convicted of sin, we will never say this again. The love of God means Calvary— nothing less! The love of God is spelled out on the Cross and nowhere else. The only basis for which God can forgive me is the Cross of Christ.

It is there that His conscience is satisfied.Forgiveness doesn’t merely mean that I am saved from hell and have been made ready for heaven (no one would accept forgiveness on that level). Forgiveness means that I am forgiven into a newly created relationship which identifies me with God in Christ. The miracle of redemption is that God turns me, the unholy one, into the standard of Himself, the Holy One. He does this by putting into me a new nature, the nature of Jesus Christ.

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November 19 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Good morning God and thank you for this devotional. This lesson echoes the awareness that our gift of salvation also comes with a newly created relationship with You in and through Christ. Thank You for that reminder this morning; the reminder that with our salvation comes an intimate relationship with You that comes from identification with Jesus on the cross.  We are in a relationship that is full of love, hope, mercy, grace and power; one that gives us faith and hope for a more abundant life, even inside our trials and difficult circumstances. A relationship that gives us a “knowing”. Being able to rest in the awareness that You are God and You work all things for the good of those that love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.

And God says…”When you seek first the kingdom of God, which is Jesus, I provide everything else you require; including the capacity for faith, hope and love in the middle of trials and difficult times. When you identify with the cross, are surrendered and connected with Me, you experience a peace and become aware that the abundant life is not about material things, although you begin to learn that I will meet all your needs. The abundant life is a life undeterred by the noise of struggles, doubt and concern, because you just “know” that I am God and I am good all the time. You just “know” that when you let go of your life, and only when you let go of your life, I can and will catch you, always. Your trials simply become your tools and teachers.”

“And when you cannot identify with the cross of Jesus, when you can only see the difficult circumstances surrounding you and yours, remember that I can bridge that gap for you as well. Simply ask for My help. Believe, and I will help you in your unbelief.”

In the Scriptures, the great miracle of the incarnation slips into the ordinary life of a child; the great miracle of the transfiguration fades into the demon-possessed valley below; the glory of the resurrection descends into a breakfast on the seashore. This is not an anticlimax, but a great revelation of God.We have a tendency to look for wonder in our experience, and we mistake heroic actions for real heroes. It’s one thing to go through a crisis grandly, yet quite another to go through every day glorifying God when there is no witness, no limelight, and no one paying even the remotest attention to us. If we are not looking for halos, we at least want something that will make people say, “What a wonderful man of prayer he is!” or, “What a great woman of devotion she is!” If you are properly devoted to the Lord Jesus, you have reached the lofty height where no one would ever notice you personally. All that is noticed is the power of God coming through you all the time.

We want to be able to say, “Oh, I have had a wonderful call from God!” But to do even the most humbling tasks to the glory of God takes the Almighty God Incarnate working in us. To be utterly unnoticeable requires God’s Spirit in us making us absolutely humanly His. The true test of a saint’s life is not successfulness but faithfulness on the human level of life. We tend to set up success in Christian work as our purpose, but our purpose should be to display the glory of God in human life, to live a life “hidden with Christ in God” in our everyday human conditions (Colossians 3:3). Our human relationships are the very conditions in which the ideal life of God should be exhibited.

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November 16, 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Good morning Lord and thank You for one more day of Co2mannatoday. I thought I was going to be in one of those “iron sharpening iron” discussions with Oswald Chambers today, then I re-read this final sentence in paragraph 2 If you are properly devoted to the Lord Jesus, you have reached the lofty height where no one would ever notice you personally. All that is noticed is the power of God coming through you all the time.  In the context of Your teaching lately, this sounds to me like you are telling us that if we are surrendered and connected to You, we are unconcerned about others noticing our spirituality, we are simply focused on our surrender and connection. The fact that they see Jesus in us is simply a bi-product of our surrender and connection, and the result of that to and for others is of no concern to us.

And God says…”That is correct. When you are truly surrendered and connected, you are no longer concerned about others good (or bad) opinions of you. When you seek first the kingdom of God, you can let go of your concern about the resulting outcomes. The outcomes belong to Me. When you acknowledge Me in all your ways and forget about your own ideas, understandings, perceptions and spirituality or not, you set Me free to guide you into my truth. And the outcomes I arrange transcend any that you could think or imagine. Delight yourself in the Lord and I will give you the desires of your heart.”

 

We should be so one with God that we don’t need to ask continually for guidance. Sanctification means that we are made the children of God. A child’s life is normally obedient, until he chooses disobedience. But as soon as he chooses to disobey, an inherent inner conflict is produced. On the spiritual level, inner conflict is the warning of the Spirit of God. When He warns us in this way, we must stop at once and be renewed in the spirit of our mind to discern God’s will (see Romans 12:2). If we are born again by the Spirit of God, our devotion to Him is hindered, or even stopped, by continually asking Him to guide us here and there. “…the Lord led me…” and on looking back we see the presence of an amazing design. If we are born of God we will see His guiding hand and give Him the credit.We can all see God in exceptional things, but it requires the growth of spiritual discipline to see God in every detail. Never believe that the so-called random events of life are anything less than God’s appointed order. Be ready to discover His divine designs anywhere and everywhere.Beware of being obsessed with consistency to your own convictions instead of being devoted to God. If you are a saint and say, “I will never do this or that,” in all probability this will be exactly what God will require of you. There was never a more inconsistent being on this earth than our Lord, but He was never inconsistent with His Father. The important consistency in a saint is not to a principle but to the divine life. It is the divine life that continually makes more and more discoveries about the divine mind. It is easier to be an excessive fanatic than it is to be consistently faithful, because God causes an amazing humbling of our religious conceit when we are faithful to Him.___________________________________________________________

November 14 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, the song for today is my prayer; that I  can walk by faith.  I pray that I surrender and live connected, through the faith You provide me. And thank You for the trials that You have given me, and or allowed, that have brought about stronger faith.  I tried to run from the trials, hide from them, bury them, reconstruct them, define them and even dress them up into something else.  But Your leading (as it says in the song across the “broken road”) brings us back, over and over to the main things: namely that You are God, and through the sacrifice of Jesus You have demonstrated Your overwhelming love, grace and mercy. And when I simply surrender to You, I am connected to You by Your Spirit and can then live out of that, “knowing” with a joyous peace that passes all understanding.

And God says…”I wasn’t kidding when I said I came to give you life and life more abundantly. It was not hyperbole when I said that my yoke is easy. And when I said all things work for the good of those that love the Lord; that too was and is an extraordinary truth.  But in no way did I say I would take away your trials. Many believers do not understand how they can live out an abundant life without “cashing in” on material things and wealth. Many do not understand how to live in joy in the midst of trials and loss.  But you are learning that something supernatural can take place when you are first surrendered, connected and curious. Seek first the kingdom of God, which is Jesus, and I will provide everything else you require or need; including peace and joy in the middle of the pressures of trials that will and do come out of day to day living in the world.”

We should battle through our moods, feelings, and emotions into absolute devotion to the Lord Jesus. We must break out of our own little world of experience into abandoned devotion to Him. Think who the New Testament says Jesus Christ is, and then think of the despicable meagerness of the miserable faith we exhibit by saying, “I haven’t had this experience or that experience”! Think what faith in Jesus Christ claims and provides— He can present us faultless before the throne of God, inexpressibly pure, absolutely righteous, and profoundly justified. Stand in absolute adoring faith “in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God— and righteousness and sanctification and redemption…” (1 Corinthians 1:30). How dare we talk of making a sacrifice for the Son of God! We are saved from hell and total destruction, and then we talk about making sacrifices!

We must continually focus and firmly place our faith in Jesus Christ— not a “prayer meeting” Jesus Christ, or a “book” Jesus Christ, but the New Testament Jesus Christ, who is God Incarnate, and who ought to strike us dead at His feet. Our faith must be in the One from whom our salvation springs. Jesus Christ wants our absolute, unrestrained devotion to Himself. We can never experience Jesus Christ, or selfishly bind Him in the confines of our own hearts. Our faith must be built on strong determined confidence in Him.

It is because of our trusting in experience that we see the steadfast impatience of the Holy Spirit against unbelief. All of our fears are sinful, and we create our own fears by refusing to nourish ourselves in our faith. How can anyone who is identified with Jesus Christ suffer from doubt or fear! Our lives should be an absolute hymn of praise resulting from perfect, irrepressible, triumphant belief.

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November 13 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, thank You for this devotional and the time and space to open my mind and heart to the Holy Spirit’s leading.  But Lord, Chamber’s guilt ridden admonitions just seem out of place with what You have been teaching us. Today Chambers leads his students to believe they are guilty if they are not totally and faithfully committed to You all the time. He says… We must break out of our own little world, ….We are saved from hell and total destruction, and then we talk about making sacrifices…All of our fears are sinful, and we create our own fears by refusing to nourish ourselves in our faith. How can anyone who is identified with Jesus Christ suffer from doubt or fear!,,, Our lives should be an absolute hymn of praise resulting from perfect, irrepressible, triumphant belief.

I mean whoa Lord, are these words and guilt hooks what You want  used for making us into the likeness of Christ? Are these kinds of words and notions you want used to move us into surrender and connection?

And God says…”As we discussed earlier in the week, the reason I use flawed men and women like Moses, David, Abraham, Isaac,  Solomon, Sampson, Rahab, Martha and Mary and you is that flawed humans are all I have to work with. It is not unusual for Me to show a believer a sliver of  wondrous truth and righteousness, designed just for him or her, and have them run willy nilly off and try to share it with everyone around them.  It is not unusual for a believer to experience a wonderful process for surrender and connection and then try to turn it into a denomination, religious leverage and or cult. Most surrendered and connected believers living in the blessings of connection and curiosity want others to share their experience, however, their experience, and your experience will be different. You do not need to go off and try to share your surrender and connection experience, it will simply flow from you like a natural spring. Others cannot help but notice. And you know that there is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding, methods, or power of persuasion, and I will make your paths straight. Your role is to simply surrender and be connected and live out of that. I will take care of everything else. Seek first the kingdom of God, which is Jesus and His righteousness, and I will provide everything else you require.”

God’s command is, “Take now,” not later. It is incredible how we debate! We know something is right, but we try to find excuses for not doing it immediately. If we are to climb to the height God reveals, it can never be done later— it must be done now. And the sacrifice must be worked through our will before we actually perform it.“So Abraham rose early in the morning…and went to the place of which God had told him” (Genesis 22:3). Oh, the wonderful simplicity of Abraham! When God spoke, he did not “confer with flesh and blood” (Galatians 1:16). Beware when you want to “confer with flesh and blood” or even your own thoughts, insights, or understandings— anything that is not based on your personal relationship with God. These are all things that compete with and hinder obedience to God.

Abraham did not choose what the sacrifice would be. Always guard against self-chosen service for God. Self-sacrifice may be a disease that impairs your service. If God has made your cup sweet, drink it with grace; or even if He has made it bitter, drink it in communion with Him. If the providential will of God means a hard and difficult time for you, go through it. But never decide the place of your own martyrdom, as if to say, “I will only go to there, but no farther.” God chose the test for Abraham, and Abraham neither delayed nor protested, but steadily obeyed. If you are not living in touch with God, it is easy to blame Him or pass judgment on Him. You must go through the trial before you have any right to pronounce a verdict, because by going through the trial you learn to know God better. God is working in us to reach His highest goals until His purpose and our purpose become one.

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November 11 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Good morning Lord. I was wrong the other morning; it has been over 1300 mornings and journal entries for David and me. Thank You for bringing us back day after day to teach and reinforce the primary lesson; namely that regardless of our circumstances, status, blessings or trials, we are to meet you daily, and continually, with our surrender. This lesson reminds us that Abraham surrendered and left it to God to fill in the blanks. Lord, I pray for that capability; the ability step out in faith knowing that You have it all under control.  Unfortunately my need to look good, feel good, be right and be in control seems to get in the way a lot of the time.

And God says…”Clearly you are not born with the inclination to surrender your needs to Me. And when you pray you often pray for Me to help you look good, feel good, be right and be in control. However, you are learning more and more about surrender and how a life of surrender can be a most rewarding and joyous way of life.  You have allowed your trials to have a perfect result. And you are practicing surrender even in midst of turbulent and trying circumstances. You have been learning how to seek first the kingdom of God, and then allowing Me to live through you. You have experienced the “peace that passes all understanding” even as your circumstances became more and more difficult.  There is a knowing that occurs when you live in surrender, connection and curiosity as you do begin to truly let go and let Me live through you as you experientially comprehend that all things work for good for those that love the lord.”

The Christian worker has to be a sacred “go-between.” He must be so closely identified with his Lord and the reality of His redemption that Christ can continually bring His creating life through him. I am not referring to the strength of one individual’s personality being superimposed on another, but the real presence of Christ coming through every aspect of the worker’s life. When we preach the historical facts of the life and death of our Lord as they are conveyed in the New Testament, our words are made sacred. God uses these words, on the basis of His redemption, to create something in those who listen which otherwise could never have been created.

If we simply preach the effects of redemption in the human life instead of the revealed, divine truth regarding Jesus Himself, the result is not new birth in those who listen. The result is a refined religious lifestyle, and the Spirit of God cannot witness to it because such preaching is in a realm other than His. We must make sure that we are living in such harmony with God that as we proclaim His truth He can create in others those things which He alone can do.

When we say, “What a wonderful personality, what a fascinating person, and what wonderful insight!” then what opportunity does the gospel of God have through all of that? It cannot get through, because the attraction is to the messenger and not the message. If a person attracts through his personality, that becomes his appeal. If, however, he is identified with the Lord Himself, then the appeal becomes what Jesus Christ can do. The danger is to glory in men, yet Jesus says we are to lift up only Him (see John 12:32).

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November 9 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Good morning God and thank you for bringing David and I back together for almost 1000 mornings over the past five years. It is clear that You have been leading us, because the teaching and guiding has been constant and specific for both of us. For some I am sure the recurring lessons in surrender, connection, curiosity and obedience seem redundant and almost pedantic. But for us these lessons seem fresh every day, like the daily manna for which we named our study. Here Chambers reminds us that human traits such as a great personality and dynamic speaking ability are not the keys for sharing Jesus. Fascinating people, he says, do not necessarily equate to a good missionary, disciple or teacher.

And God says…” I can and will use any and all kinds of people and circumstances to communicate the love I have for you. The cross was known as a symbol of terror and torture, and I used the cross to communicate My love, grace and mercy. I can and will use humans that are surrendered and connected with Me. I will use people that are sinful, vain, self-centered, selfish, and proud. You see that is all I have to work with; flawed humans. Take a look at Adam, Moses, Noah, Abraham, Samson, David, Solomon, Peter, Paul and every other disciple of memory. Your perfection is not a requirement; in fact it is not even a consideration. Your surrender is a requirement, from which our connection and your curiosity and obedience are made possible. And I love you so much I make all things work for your good so that you may reach surrender, connection, curiosity and obedience as a matter of day to day living.